Grieving mom hopes her tragic loss prevents other towing accidents

HOUSTON, Minn. (KARE) - Kristie Cox made French toast for breakfast on a
beautiful Memorial Day weekend. She kissed goodbye her husband Jeremy
and two children as they headed for the library. A couple hours later,
life would end as she knew it.

"I just fell to the ground. All the air just left me," Cox recalled
recently, tears streaming down her cheeks. "My world just shattered."

Jeremy and 5-year-old Isabel were killed when an empty flatbed
trailer unhitched from an oncoming pickup, crossed the centerline and
plowed hitch-first through the windshield of the Cox's Honda CRV.

Kristie and Jeremy's 11-month-old son Liam - in the backseat next to
Isabel - wasn't injured. But with her husband and daughter gone, Kristie
Cox's loss was beyond comprehension.

Three years later, as Memorial Day weekend again approaches, she
still shudders at the prospect of boat, camper and utility trailers
improperly attached by their drivers.

"Even the word 'accident' - for the longest time I just hated that
word because, in so many ways, it was not an accident," Cox said.

A state patrol investigation revealed that a clip was missing from
the bottom of a hitch pin, allowing the trailer to break free before it
slammed into the Cox's SUV. Further evidence showed one of the trailer's
two safety chains was also missing.

"This should never have happened," said Kelley McGraw, the Minnesota
state trooper who conducted the investigation. "This was completely
avoidable, in every sense of the word."

The driver of the tow vehicle, 25-year-old Amanda Engelhart, pleaded
guilty to careless driving and unsafe equipment. She spent 30 days in
jail.

Under state law, Engelhart bore the responsibility for the crash even
though the trailer did not belong to her and had been attached by a
family friend. "If the trailer you're using isn't safe, you're
responsible as the driver," said McGraw. "Ultimately it rests on you."

Engelhart has since moved to Rochester. In a tearful interview, she
said not a day goes by that she doesn't think about the crash and the
lives it took. "You don't ever get over something like this," she said.
"I just couldn't imagine that being the last time you're seeing your
little girl and your husband."

Minnesota does not keep statistics on deaths and injuries caused by
trailers detaching. The website Dangerous Trailers.org claims,
nationwide, more than 15,000 people have been killed by trailers since
1975.

Kristie Cox has kept Isabel's bedroom undisturbed since her death -
even the clothes in the hamper. "Because if I wash them, they won't
smell like her," she said. "Three years later, I just can't."

Cox hopes people who hear the story will think of her husband and
daughter when they hook up their trailers. "You need to educate yourself
or ask someone who knows. Go online and look - 'How do I hook up this
up correctly?' - and do it every single time, because it was that one
time that took my husband and daughter."